DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
1. This action is in response to the amendment filed on 6/8/2026. Claims 1, 8, and 15 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1-20 remain rejected in the application.
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1, and similarly claims 8 and 15, filed on 6/8/2026, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 regarding that the prior art does not teach the limitation(s): “collaborating, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, with one or more additional edge devices in the array of edge devices to determine which edge device controls the mixed reality content when the user moves from the physical location boundary of the first edge device toward another physical location boundary of another edge device” have been fully considered, but are moot because of new grounds for rejection. Claim 1, and similarly claims 8 and 15, are now disclosed by Kahan, Yang, Oetting, Iyer, and Qiao.
3. Regarding arguments with respect to claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20, they are dependent on independent claims 1, 8 and 15 respectively. Applicant does not argue anything other than independent claim 1, and similarly claims 8 and 15. The limitations in those claims, in conjunction with their combination, have previously been established and explained.
Claim Objections
4. Claims objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 25, "edge device;based on" should read "edge device; based on"
In claim 1, line 30, "edge device; andcontrolling" should read "edge device; and controlling"
In claim 8, line 28 and claim 15, lines 37-38, "the user;program instructions" should read "the user; program instructions"
In claim 8, line 31 and claim 15, line 41, "edge device; andbased" should read "edge device; and based"
In claim 8, line 36 and claim 15, line 46, "edge device,wherein a" should read "edge device, wherein a
In claim 14, line 24, "of the first device;" should read "of the first edge device;"
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claims 1-5 and 7-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahan et al. (US-2023/0237192-A1, hereinafter "Kahan") in view of Yang (CN-115830274-A), further in view of Oetting et al. (US-2022/0028122-A1, hereinafter "Oetting"), further in view of Iyer et al. (WO-00/78004-A9, hereinafter "Iyer"), and further in view of Qiao et al. (CN-113791899-A, hereinafter "Qiao").
7. As per claim 1, Kahan discloses: A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by one or more computer processors [[of a first edge device,]] a request for mixed reality content from a user, (Kahan, [0065], “According to some embodiments, an extended reality appliance may include a digital communication device configured to at least one of: receiving virtual content data configured to enable a presentation of the virtual content, transmitting virtual content for sharing with at least one external device, …”) [[wherein the first edge device is included in an array of edge devices that provide mixed reality content to users, each edge device having an associated physical location boundary]] and an [[edge-device-specific-]]policy database storing (Kahan, [0250], “By way of a non-limiting example, in FIG. 10 , prior to user 1004 arriving at initial location 1002 (e.g., therefore prior to receiving an indication of initial location 1002 and performing a first lookup using the indication), at least one processor (e.g., processing device 460 and/or server 210) may retrieve via database access module 417, one or more parameters for subsequently applying to the first and second extended reality display rules. For example, a parameter for the first extended reality display rule may permit linking content (e.g., menu 1010) with a digital payment platform when displaying menu 1010 at initial location 1002 ...” and [0092], “In some embodiments, database access module 317 may cooperate with database 380 to retrieve stored data.”) one or more pre-defined policies associated with the physical location boundary that determines mixed reality content to provide to users located within the physical location boundary [[of the edge device;]] (Kahan, [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked.” and [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked.”)
retrieving, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] the mixed reality content; (Kahan, [0065], “According to some embodiments, an extended reality appliance may include a digital communication device configured to at least one of: receiving virtual content data configured to enable a presentation of the virtual content, transmitting virtual content for sharing with at least one external device, …” and [0077], “Consistent with the present disclosure, XR unit 204 may include a wearable extended reality appliance configured to present virtual content to user 100. ... Additional examples of wearable extended reality appliance may include ... a Mixed Reality (MR) device, or any other device capable of generating extended reality content.”)
determining, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] the mixed reality content does not comply with at least one pre-defined policy stored in the [[edge-device-specific-]]policy database (Kahan, [0258], “In some embodiments, one or more predetermined extended reality display rules may be associated with an account associated with a user, e.g., as default settings. For example, a user may define in advance a rule to prevent displaying promotional content in selected locations, contexts, and/or times. As another example, a user may define in advance a rule to prevent displaying content in selected regions of an FOV of the user, e.g., while driving or crossing a street.” and [0250], “By way of a non-limiting example, in FIG. 10 , prior to user 1004 arriving at initial location 1002 (e.g., therefore prior to receiving an indication of initial location 1002 and performing a first lookup using the indication), at least one processor (e.g., processing device 460 and/or server 210) may retrieve via database access module 417, one or more parameters for subsequently applying to the first and second extended reality display rules. For example, a parameter for the first extended reality display rule may permit linking content (e.g., menu 1010) with a digital payment platform when displaying menu 1010 at initial location 1002 ...” and [0092], “In some embodiments, database access module 317 may cooperate with database 380 to retrieve stored data.”) associated with the physical location boundary [[of the first edge device;]] (Kahan, [0258], “In some embodiments, one or more predetermined extended reality display rules may be associated with an account associated with a user, e.g., as default settings. For example, a user may define in advance a rule to prevent displaying promotional content in selected locations, contexts, and/or times. As another example, a user may define in advance a rule to prevent displaying content in selected regions of an FOV of the user, e.g., while driving or crossing a street.” and [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked.” and [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked.”)
filtering, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] the mixed reality content to comply with the at least one pre-defined policy [[by replacing the mixed reality content with mixed reality content that complies with the]] at least one pre-defined policy associated with the physical location boundary [[of the first edge device;]] (Kahan, [0007], “These embodiments may involve receiving an indication of an initial location of a particular wearable extended reality appliance; performing a first lookup in a repository for a match between the initial location and a first extended reality display rule associating the particular wearable extended reality appliance with the initial location, wherein the first extended reality display rule permits a first type of content display in the initial location and prevents a second type of content display in the initial location; ...” and [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked.” and [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked.”)
processing, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] the filtered mixed reality content and (Kahan, [0090], “In some embodiments, virtual content determination module 315 may determine the virtual content to be displayed by the wearable extended reality appliance. The virtual content may be determined based on data from input determination module 312, sensors communication module 314, and other sources (e.g., database 380).” and [0089], “In one embodiment, the data received from sensors communication module 314 may be used to determine the physical orientation of the input device. The physical orientation of the input device may be indicative of a state of the user and may be determined based on combination of a tilt movement, a roll movement, and a lateral movement. Thereafter, the physical orientation of the input device may be used by virtual content determination module 315 to modify display parameters of the virtual content to match the state of the user (e.g., attention, sleepy, active, sitting, standing, leaning backwards, leaning forward, walking, moving, riding, etc.).”) providing, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] the filtered mixed reality content to the user; (Kahan, [0007], “These embodiments may involve receiving an indication of an initial location of a particular wearable extended reality appliance; … implementing the first extended reality display rule to thereby enable first instances of the first type of content to be displayed at the initial location via the particular wearable extended reality appliance while preventing second instances of the second type of content from being displayed at the initial location via the particular wearable extended reality appliance; ...” and [0077], “Consistent with the present disclosure, XR unit 204 may include a wearable extended reality appliance configured to present virtual content to user 100. ... Additional examples of wearable extended reality appliance may include ... a Mixed Reality (MR) device, or any other device capable of generating extended reality content.”)
determining, by the one or more computer processors [[of the first edge device,]] a mobility of the user in a physical environment (Kahan, [0089]-[0090], “Thereafter, the physical orientation of the input device may be used by virtual content determination module 315 to modify display parameters of the virtual content to match the state of the user (e.g., attention, sleepy, active, sitting, standing, leaning backwards, leaning forward, walking, moving, riding, etc.). In some embodiments, virtual content determination module 315 may determine the virtual content to be displayed by the wearable extended reality appliance.”) including at least a current location coordinate of the user (Kahan, [0208], “For example, a remote processing unit (e.g., server 210) may receive from a wearable extended reality appliance digital signals indicating a GPS-based location of the wearable extended reality appliance. As another example, a remote processing unit may receive a combination of Wi-Fi signals indicating a proximity of a wearable extended reality appliance to a Wi-Fi beacon together with image data acquired by a camera, which may be processed to determine a more precise location of the wearable extended reality appliance relative to the Wi-Fi beacon.”) [[and movement of the user relative to the physical location boundary of the first edge device;]]
based on the mobility of the user in the physical environment, (Kahan, [0089]-[0090], “Thereafter, the physical orientation of the input device may be used by virtual content determination module 315 to modify display parameters of the virtual content to match the state of the user (e.g., attention, sleepy, active, sitting, standing, leaning backwards, leaning forward, walking, moving, riding, etc.). In some embodiments, virtual content determination module 315 may determine the virtual content to be displayed by the wearable extended reality appliance.”) [[collaborating, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, with one or more additional edge devices in the array of edge devices to determine which edge device controls the mixed reality content when the user moves from the physical location boundary of the first edge device toward another physical location boundary of another edge device; and]]
[[controlling, by one or more computer processors of a current controlling edge device,]] the mixed reality content based on [[locally stored]] pre-defined policies associated with a physical location boundary [[of the current controlling edge device.]] (Kahan, [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked.” and [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked.”)
8. Kahan doesn't explicitly disclose but Yang discloses: [[receiving, by one or more computer processors]] of a first edge device, [[a request for mixed reality content from a user,]] wherein the first edge device is included in an array of edge devices that provide mixed reality content to users, each edge device having an associated physical location boundary [[and an edge-device-specific-policy database storing one or more pre-defined policies associated with the physical location boundary that determines mixed reality content to provide to users located within the physical location boundary]] of the edge device; (Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.” and page 8, [0074], “The central cloud server 103 is deployed on the central cloud to permanently store all information and user data of the mixed reality application throughout its lifecycle. It can be divided into different sub-modules and numbered according to the different aggregation zones covered by the aggregation edge cloud. For example, a large city has 30 aggregation zones. These aggregation zones can be numbered according to their identity, such as from 1 to 30. The edge cloud server 102 of each aggregation zone obtains the virtual business scenario information of the corresponding aggregation zone from the central cloud server 103. At the same time, in order to avoid boundary effects, the edge cloud server 102 of each aggregation zone can contain information about the boundary areas. That is, the virtual business scenario information stored on the edge cloud servers 102 of adjacent aggregation zones overlaps appropriately.”)
[[retrieving, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[the mixed reality content;]] (See Yang, page 8, [0072] and page 8, [0074] above.)
[[determining, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[the mixed reality content does not comply with at least one pre-defined policy stored in the edge-device-specific-policy database associated with the physical location boundary]] of the first edge device; (See Yang, page 8, [0072] and page 8, [0074] above.)
[[filtering, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[the mixed reality content to comply with the at least one pre-defined policy by replacing the mixed reality content with mixed reality content that complies with the at least one pre-defined policy associated with the physical location boundary]] of the first edge device; (See Yang, page 8, [0072] and page 8, [0074] above.)
[[processing, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[the filtered mixed reality content and providing, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[the filtered mixed reality content to the user;]] (See Yang, page 8, [0072] and page 8, [0074] above.)
[[determining, by the one or more computer processors]] of the first edge device, [[a mobility of the user in a physical environment including at least a current location coordinate of the user]] and movement of the user relative to the physical location boundary of the first edge device; (Yang, page 10, [0087], “Here, when a mixed reality client moves, the edge cloud server in the area where the mixed reality client is located provides services to it. That is, when the mixed reality client is in the aggregation area A of edge cloud server A, it is provided by A, and when the mixed reality client moves to the aggregation area B of edge cloud server B, it is provided by B. Therefore, after receiving a user request from a mixed reality client, the aforementioned edge cloud server first determines whether the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located based on the location information carried in the user request. If the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located, the aforementioned step of obtaining the 3D map information of the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located is executed; otherwise, the operation is stopped.” and page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
[[based on the mobility of the user in the physical environment, collaborating,]] by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, with one or more additional edge devices in the array of edge devices to determine which edge device controls the mixed reality content when the user moves from the physical location boundary of the first edge device toward another physical location boundary of another edge device; and (Yang, page 10, [0087], “Here, when a mixed reality client moves, the edge cloud server in the area where the mixed reality client is located provides services to it. That is, when the mixed reality client is in the aggregation area A of edge cloud server A, it is provided by A, and when the mixed reality client moves to the aggregation area B of edge cloud server B, it is provided by B. Therefore, after receiving a user request from a mixed reality client, the aforementioned edge cloud server first determines whether the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located based on the location information carried in the user request. If the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located, the aforementioned step of obtaining the 3D map information of the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located is executed; otherwise, the operation is stopped.” and page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
controlling, by one or more computer processors of a current controlling edge device, [[the mixed reality content based on locally stored pre-defined policies associated with a physical location boundary]] of the current controlling edge device. (Yang, page 10, [0087], “Here, when a mixed reality client moves, the edge cloud server in the area where the mixed reality client is located provides services to it. That is, when the mixed reality client is in the aggregation area A of edge cloud server A, it is provided by A, and when the mixed reality client moves to the aggregation area B of edge cloud server B, it is provided by B. Therefore, after receiving a user request from a mixed reality client, the aforementioned edge cloud server first determines whether the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located based on the location information carried in the user request. If the user is in the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located, the aforementioned step of obtaining the 3D map information of the target convergence area where the edge cloud server is located is executed; otherwise, the operation is stopped.” and page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
9. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer-implemented method of Kahan to include the disclosure of an array of edge devices, each having an associated physical boundary location for content distribution, determining the movement of the user relative to the physical location boundary of the first edge device, determining which edge device controls the mixed reality content when the user moves between physical location boundary of edge devices, and controlling the content via an edge device, of Yang. The motivation for this modification could have been to provide edge devices closer in proximity to a mixed reality user so that the content can be quickly distributed, instead of through a central server. In addition, an edge device can also process content so that lower end devices can view the content. By keeping track of a mixed reality user’s movement, the edge devices can determine which edge device is “more local” to the user and switch edge devices if necessary. This also determines which edge device controls the content, providing it in the quickest and most efficient method to the user. This provides a more seamless experience for the mixed reality user as the content is always distributed from the closest edge device, particularly if a user moves away from one edge device and toward another.
10. Kahan in view of Yang doesn't explicitly disclose but Oetting discloses: [[filtering, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, the mixed reality content to comply with the at least one pre-defined policy]] by replacing the mixed reality content with mixed reality content that complies with the [[at least one pre-defined policy associated with the physical location boundary of the first edge device;]] (Oetting, [0025], “In one example, the AS 104 may render a digital object based on a user request and on at least one policy that governs user behavior in the XR environment. For instance, a user of the XR environment may contribute some content to the XR environment, such as a personal avatar, an image or video or himself or herself, an emoji, or another type of content. However, a policy associated with the XR environment (which may be defined by a host, an administrator, or the like) may impose certain restrictions on the types of content that the users of the XR environment may contribute to the XR environment. For instance, if the XR environment is part of a virtual meeting application, a host of the XR environment may define a policy that requires that all user avatars contributed by users of the XR environment comprise images of the users in professional attire. Thus, the AS 104 may analyze the avatars of the users of the XR environment and may, as part of rendering the avatars for the XR environment, modify (potentially with the permission of the corresponding user(s)) any avatars that do not comply with the policy. For instance, the AS 104 may blur an avatar, cover an avatar with a blank box, replace the avatar with a generic avatar or placeholder, or ask the corresponding user to submit a new avatar. Thus, the AS 104 may render an XR environment for presentation to all users, where the XR environment complies with any policies that apply globally to the XR environment.” and [0039], “In one example, each user of the XR environment may be validated by checking a profile associated with the user. For instance, each user may have an associated profile that specifies information including at least one of: a physical context of the user (e.g., the location and/or technological capabilities of the location from which the user is participating in the XR environment, such as a public or private location, access to Internet of Things devices, etc.), ... and/or additional policies requested by the user that relate to the rendering of the XR environment.” and [0052], “Thus, if an objectionable word is printed on the shirt of an avatar contributed by another user of the virtual meeting, the processing system may blur, block, or otherwise obscure the offensive word in the second user's local rendering of the XR environment only. However, the objectionable word may still be visible to other users of the XR environment who have not requested removal of offensive language.” and [0018], “In one example, the core network 102 may include at least one application server (AS) 104, at least one database (DB) 106, and a plurality of edge routers 128-130.”; Examiner’s note: As disclosed by Oetting in [0025], a virtual meeting application in a mixed reality environment could have predefined policies in regard to a user’s avatar and replace an avatar with a generic version if it does not comply with a given policy (such as presenting an avatar in professional attire). In addition, as illustrated in [0039], a user could have a profile that defines parameters of the user’s physical location and desired policies. It is further disclosed in [0052] that user defined policies could block an objectionable word on the shirt of an avatar in a user’s local rendering at a virtual meeting. In these instances, policies could be defined to specific location boundaries, like a meeting room, as defined by a user.)
11. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer-implemented method of Kahan in view of Yang to include the disclosure of replacing mixed reality content with mixed reality content that complies with the at least one pre-defined policy associated with a physical location boundary, of Oetting. The motivation for this modification could have been to allow edge devices to define appropriate content for the mixed reality environment based on defined policies. This could help prevent unwanted information from being displayed (such as personal information), deny access to content that a user does not have a license to, or even potentially filter offensive content.
12. Kahan in view of Yang, and further in view of Oetting doesn't explicitly disclose but Iyer discloses: [[receiving, by one or more computer processors of a first edge device, a request for mixed reality content from a user, wherein the first edge device is included in an array of edge devices that provide mixed reality content to users, each edge device having an associated physical location boundary and an]] edge-device-specific-[[policy database storing one or more pre-defined policies associated with the physical location boundary that determines mixed reality content to provide to users located within the physical location boundary of the edge device;]] (Iyer, page 2, lines 9-18, “The present invention is directed to a unified policy management system where various policies, namely, the set of rules and instructions that determine the network's operation, may be established and enforced from a single site. According to one embodiment of the invention, the system includes a first edge device associated with a first network having a first set of resources that is configured to manage the policies for the first network according to the policy settings stored in a first database. The system also includes a second edge device associated with a second network having a second set of resources that is configured to manage the policies for the second network according to the policy settings stored in a second database. The first and second edge devices act as policy enforcers for their respective networks. The policies being enforced may include firewall policies, VPN policies, and the like.” and page 7, lines 25-28, “Each local network 102, 104 also includes an edge device, referred to as a policy enforcer 124, 126, for controlling access to the network. Each policy enforcer 124, 126 manages the network policies and services for the users and resources of their respective local networks 102, 104, as permitted by the policy server 122.” and page 2, lines 27-30, “The central database as well as the databases associated with the policy enforcers are Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) databases organized according to a hierarchical object oriented structure. This structure includes resource objects and policy objects for defining the policy settings for the policy enforcers.” and page 8, lines 11-15, “The entries in the LDAP database are preferably arranged in a hierarchical tree-like structure reflecting political, geographic, and/or organizational boundaries. Entries representing countries appear at the top of the tree. Below them are entries representing states or national organizations. Below the states or national organizations may be entries representing people, organization units, printers, documents, and the like.” and page 25, lines 6-13, “As described above, the LDAP directory service model is based on entries where each entry is a collection of attributes. Entries are arranged in a tree structure that follows a geographical and organizational distribution. ... Appropriate portions of the policy server database are then copied to the policy enforcer databases 132, 134.” and page 9, lines 4-6, “Hosts 208 are preferably organized based on their physical locations within the organization. A host's physical location is identified by the device (policy enforcer) 204 associated with the host.” and page 9, lines 7-10, “Services 210 reflect the various services provided by the policy server 122. Such services include, for example, multimedia streaming/conferencing, information retrieval, security and authentication, database applications, mail applications, routing applications, standard communication protocols, and the like.”)
[[determining, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, the mixed reality content does not comply with at least one pre-defined policy stored in the]] edge-device-specific-[[policy database associated with the physical location boundary of the first edge device;]] (See Iyer, page 2, lines 9-18; page 7, lines 25-28; page 2, lines 27-30; page 8, lines 11-15; page 25, lines 6-13; page 9, lines 4-6; and page 9, lines 7-10 above.)
[[controlling, by one or more computer processors of a current controlling edge device, the mixed reality content based on]] locally stored [[pre-defined policies associated with a physical location boundary of the current controlling edge device.]] (See Iyer, page 2, lines 9-18; page 7, lines 25-28; page 2, lines 27-30; page 8, lines 11-15; page 25, lines 6-13; page 9, lines 4-6; and page 9, lines 7-10 above.)
13. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer-implemented method of Kahan in view of Yang, and further in view of Oetting to include the disclosure of an edge-device-specific-policy database that is locally stored, of Iyer. The motivation for this modification could have been to allow edge devices to quickly determine if certain content should be made available due to locally stored policies. Due to policies being locally stored, users can quickly receive feedback from the edge server regarding viewing certain content. This also provides a more responsive experience for the user. Also, because the policies are stored locally, the policies may use less resources as the edge device is only required to enforce policies that are in its local area.
14. Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, and further in view of Iyer doesn't explicitly disclose but Qiao discloses: [[based on the mobility of the user in the physical environment,]] collaborating, [[by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, with one or more additional edge devices in the array of edge devices to determine which edge device controls the mixed reality content when the user moves from the physical location boundary of the first edge device toward another physical location boundary of another edge device; and]] (Qiao, page 9, [0034], “In the edge server cooperation module, the service migration module is designed to mainly deal with the problem of continuous service provision caused by the movement of the mobile Web AR user. In particular, the module may provide migration services according to different policies. For example, the edge server closest to the mobile Web AR user may be selected as the migration target, or the server with the smallest workload in the entire edge network may be selected as the target of service migration. In addition, a transition probability matrix accessed between edge servers can be obtained by collecting the motion tracks of a large number of users in the edge network and analyzing, so that the target of service migration is turned according to the transition probability, namely, a service migration mechanism based on a discrete time Markov chain.” and page 7, [0027], “For the edge server cooperation module, ... for the situation that the user is constantly moving in the process of accessing the mobile Web AR service, the mobile Web AR service needs to be migrated in the edge server system according to the situation of the moving position of the user equipment.” and page 9, [0035], “In summary, with the above technical solution of the present invention, the system of the present invention locates the edge node by using the landmark information to implement management of dynamic changes of the edge network, including dynamic changes of the location due to the user movement and dynamic changes of the AR service request. ... The system aims to optimize the application performance of the mobile Web AR through the collaborative design of the distributed edge network system.” and page 5, [0010]-[0011], “Further, the AR task scheduling module includes: the edge node positioning module is used for providing positioning capacity of all edge nodes including mobile Web AR user terminal equipment and an edge server; and the mobile sensing server selection module is used for selecting a proper edge server in the edge server system according to the current position of the user so as to provide services. Further, the edge node positioning module includes: a positioning mechanism module based on GPS method, which is used for providing positioning service directly based on GPS data provided by mobile user terminal equipment and edge nodes; and the positioning mechanism module based on the calibration server is used for realizing the positioning of the edge node based on the calibration server under the condition that the GPS data is unavailable.” and page 7, [0026], “For the AR task scheduling module, the mobile user terminal device may be connected to the edge server through a Web Socket or other technology, and when the edge server receives an AR service request sent by a mobile user, the edge server will first locate the edge node through a GPS or calibration server-based manner, where the location information of the edge node may be actual geographic location information based on GPS data, or a relative location in a coordinate system constructed by the calibration server. The request is then forwarded to the designated edge server by means of the mobility-aware server selection module.” and page 6, [0017], “Optionally, the migration policy of the migration operation includes: selecting an edge server closest to the mobile Web AR user as a migration target; ... acquiring the motion tracks of a large number of users in an edge network, analyzing to obtain a transition probability matrix accessed between edge servers, and selecting a service migration target according to the transition probability; and selecting a proper edge server as a service migration target ...”)
15. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer-implemented method of Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, and further in view of Iyer to include the disclosure of collaborating edge devices, of Qiao. The motivation for this modification could have been to provide edge devices with the ability to determine which device is best suited to handle certain content. This decentralized process allows only relevant edge devices to communicate and quickly determine the device that controls the content. The criteria for this decision making can be based on locality of a user or total resources available of an edge device. The decentralization process is also more responsive to a user as the collaboration process does not require a central server for edge device determination.
16. As per claim 2, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
analyzing, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, a context of the physical environment; and (See Kahan, [0211] and Yang, page 8, [0072] below.)
adapting, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, the filtered mixed reality content based on the context of the physical environment. (Kahan, [0211], “An extended reality display rule may refer to one or more guidelines and/or criteria for displaying content via an extended reality appliance, e.g., specifying a type of content that may be displayed, when content may be displayed, and/or how content may be displayed. For instance, one or more extended reality display rules may specify a context for displaying certain types of content and/or for blocking a display of certain types of content display. … An extended reality display rule associating a particular wearable extended reality appliance with a location may include one or more criteria specifying what, when, and how data may be displayed based on a location of a wearable extended reality appliance (e.g., based on one or more user-defined, device-specific, and/or default settings). For instance, information may be associated with a specific location based on a particular context, use case, user preference, default setting, and/or relevance. To prevent unwanted distractions, a display rule for a specific location may limit the display of content via a wearable extended reality appliance, e.g., to only display content that is relevant to the particular context or use case.” and Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
17. As per claim 3, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the context of the physical environment includes at least one of a contextual attribute of the environment and a context of the user in the environment. (Kahan, [0215], “For instance, a rule permitting to display a type of content via a wearable extended reality appliance while positioned at a location may be based on one or more default settings, user preferences, safety considerations, lighting conditions, context, preferences of an establishment associated with the location, other content currently displayed via the wearable extended reality appliance, and/or any other factor that may be used to decide whether to display content at a location.”)
18. As per claim 4, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the mobility of the user in the physical environment includes at least one of a location coordinate, a relative position of the user, and whether the user is moving from one physical location to another. (Kahan, [0007], “Some disclosed embodiments may include systems, methods and non-transitory computer readable media for enabling location-based virtual content. These embodiments may involve receiving an indication of an initial location of a particular wearable extended reality appliance; performing a first lookup in a repository for a match between the initial location and a first extended reality display rule associating the particular wearable extended reality appliance with the initial location, ...”)
19. As per claim 5, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein filtering the mixed reality content to comply with the at least one pre-defined policy further comprises: (See rejection for claim 1.)
removing, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, at least one of: malicious content, misleading content, personal information, financial information, and information the user is not authorized to view. (Kahan, [0279], “In some embodiments, operations may be performed for managing privacy in an extended reality environment. Data may be received from an image sensor associated with a wearable extended reality appliance. The image data may be reflective of a physical environment. Data may be accessed, the data characterizing a plurality of virtual objects for association with locations in the physical environment. The data may represent a first virtual object and a second virtual object. Privacy settings may be accessed, the privacy settings classifying at least one of the first virtual object and a location of the first virtual object as private. A first extended reality appliance may be classified as approved for presentation of private information. A second extended reality appliance may be classified as not-approved for presentation of the private information. A simultaneous presentation of an augmented viewing of the physical environment may be enabled, such that during the simultaneous presentation, the first extended reality appliance may present the first virtual object and the second virtual object in the physical environment, and the second extended reality appliance may present the second virtual object, omitting presentation of the first virtual object in compliance with the privacy settings.” and Kahan, [0281], “Some examples of private information (e.g., sensitive data) may include personal identifying information, location information, genetic data, information related to health, financial, business, personal, family, education, political, religious, and/or legal matters, and/or sexual orientation or gender identification.” and Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
20. As per claim 7, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein processing the filtered mixed reality content further comprises: (See rejection for claim 1.)
identifying, by the one or more computer processors of the first edge device, an intent of the user with respect to an interaction with the mixed reality content. (Kahan, [0483], “In some examples, the hand gestures 3526, 3612 of the user 3510 may indicate a user intention to move the virtual representation of the first participant 3518 to the first environment 3514 (e.g., by drag-and-drop hand gestures, by hold-and-move hand gestures, by selections of the first participant 3518 and its placement location in the first environment 3514, or other suitable indications).” and Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.”)
The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
21. Claim 8 is similar in scope to claim 1 except for additional limitations that Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: A computer program product comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage media; (See Kahan, [0012] below.)
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable storage media, (Kahan, [0012], “Consistent with other disclosed embodiments, non-transitory computer-readable storage media may store program instructions, …”)
Claim 8 is also rejected under the same rationale as claim 1, described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
22. Claim 9, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 2 and independent claim 8, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
23. Claim 10, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 3 and independent claim 8, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
24. Claim 11, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 4 and independent claim 8, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
25. Claim 12, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 5 and independent claim 8, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
26. As per claim 13, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the at least one pre-defined policy of the first edge device is different from a pre-defined policy of a second edge device in the array of edge devices, wherein moving from the physical location boundary of the first edge device to a physical location boundary of the second edge device causes the second edge device to provide mixed reality content to the user that is determined by the pre-defined policy of the second edge device. (Kahan, Fig. 10-11; [0239], “By way of a non-limiting example, in FIG. 10, while at location 1002, user 1004 may view via wearable extendible realty appliance 1006 multiple virtual objects associated with initial location 1002, such as virtual menu 1010 and corresponding virtual food items 1012. In FIG. 11, at subsequent location 1102, user 1004 may view via wearable extendible realty appliance 1006 multiple virtual objects associated with subsequent location 1102, such as promotional coupon 1110, a virtual guide 1112, and a virtual checkout 1114. At initial location 1002, at least one processor (e.g., processing device 460 and/or server 210) may block the display of promotional coupon 1110, virtual guide 1112, and virtual checkout 1114 via wearable extended reality appliance 1106, and at subsequent location 1102, at least one processor may block the display of virtual menu 1010 and virtual food items 1012.” and Kahan, [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked. The at least one processor may receive a request (e.g., from a computing device associated with initial location 1002) to display menu 1010 and may determine that menu 1010 corresponds to a first type of content permitted for display at initial location 1002 according to the first rule.” and Kahan, [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked. The at least one processor may receive a request (e.g., from a computing device associated with subsequent location 1102) to display promotional coupon 1110 and may determine that promotional coupon 1110 corresponds to a second type of content permitted for display at subsequent location 1102 according to the second rule.” and Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.” and Yang, page 8, [0074], “The central cloud server 103 is deployed on the central cloud to permanently store all information and user data of the mixed reality application throughout its lifecycle. It can be divided into different sub-modules and numbered according to the different aggregation zones covered by the aggregation edge cloud. For example, a large city has 30 aggregation zones. These aggregation zones can be numbered according to their identity, such as from 1 to 30.” and Yang, page 10, [0087], “Here, when a mixed reality client moves, the edge cloud server in the area where the mixed reality client is located provides services to it. That is, when the mixed reality client is in the aggregation area A of edge cloud server A, it is provided by A, and when the mixed reality client moves to the aggregation area B of edge cloud server B, it is provided by B.”)
27. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer program product of claim 8 of Kahan in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao to include the disclosure of two edge devices, where content distribution changes from the first edge device to the second edge device as a mixed reality user moves between the edge device’s boundaries, of Yang. The motivation for this modification could have been to provide a mixed reality user with a seamless content experience so that the user may not even realize they have crossed an edge device’s boundary. As a result, a mixed reality user will remain in close proximity to an edge device so that the content can be quickly distributed, instead of through a central server. In addition, an edge device can also process content so that lower end devices can view the content.
28. Claim 14, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 7 and independent claim 8, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
29. Claim 15 is similar in scope to claim 1 except for additional limitations that Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: A computer system comprising:
one or more computer processors; (See Kahan, [0012] and [0065] below.)
one or more computer-readable memories; and (See Kahan, [0012] and [0065] below.)
one or more computer-readable storage media; (See Kahan, [0012] and [0065] below.)
program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more computer processors via at least one of the one or more memories, (Kahan, [0012], “Consistent with other disclosed embodiments, non-transitory computer-readable storage media may store program instructions, which are executed by at least one processing device and perform any of the methods described herein.” and [0065], “In additional embodiments, the extended reality appliance may include memory for storing at least one of virtual data configured to enable a presentation of virtual content, …”)
Claim 15 is also rejected under the same rationale as claim 1, described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
30. Claim 16, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 2 and independent claim 15, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
31. Claim 17, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 3 and independent claim 15, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
32. Claim 18, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 5 and independent claim 15, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
33. Claim 19, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 13 and independent claim 15, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 13.
34. Claim 20, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 7 and independent claim 15, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
35. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kahan et al. (US-2023/0237192-A1, hereinafter "Kahan") in view of Yang (CN-115830274-A), further in view of Oetting et al. (US-2022/0028122-A1, hereinafter "Oetting"), further in view of Iyer et al. (WO-00/78004-A9, hereinafter "Iyer"), further in view of Qiao et al. (CN-113791899-A, hereinafter "Qiao"),
and further in view of Guim Bernat et al. (US-2021/0144517-A1, hereinafter "Guim Bernat").
36. As per claim 6, Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao discloses: The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first edge device in the array of edge devices [[is a static computing device that hosts an instance of a mixed reality (MR) content control system]] and one or more pre-defined policies for the physical location boundary of the first edge device, and a second edge device in the array of edge devices [[is a mobile computing device that hosts an instance of the MR content control system]] and one or more pre-defined policies for a physical location boundary of the second edge device. (Yang, page 8, [0072], “Optionally, the mixed reality implementation ... may include a mixed reality client 101, an edge cloud server 102, and a central cloud server 103. The number of mixed reality clients and edge cloud servers can be determined according to the actual situation. Figure 1 only uses one mixed reality client and one edge cloud server as an example for illustration.” and Kahan, [0218], “For example, the first rule may specify that while user 1004 is at initial location 1002, content associated with initial location 1002 may be permitted for display, whereas content for other establishments (e.g., unrelated to initial location 1002) may be blocked.” and [0236], “For instance, the second rule may specify that while user 1004 is at subsequent location 1102, content associated with subsequent location 1102 may be permitted for display displayed, whereas content promoting other establishments (e.g., unassociated with and/or competing with subsequent location 1102) may be blocked.”)
37. Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao doesn't explicitly disclose but Guim Bernat discloses: [[The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first edge device in the array of edge devices]] is a static computing device that hosts an instance of a mixed reality (MR) content control system [[and one or more pre-defined policies for the physical location boundary of the first edge device, and a second edge device in the array of edge devices]] is a mobile computing device that hosts an instance of the MR content control system [[and one or more pre-defined policies for a physical location boundary of the second edge device.]] (Guim Bernat, Fig. 12, [0164], “In further examples, FIG. 12 may utilize various types of mobile edge nodes, such as an edge node hosted in a vehicle (car/truck/tram/train) or other mobile unit, as the edge node will move to other geographic locations along the platform hosting it. With vehicle-to-vehicle communications, individual vehicles may even act as network edge nodes for other cars, (e.g., to perform caching, reporting, data aggregation, etc.). Thus, it will be understood that the application components provided in various edge nodes may be distributed in static or mobile settings, including coordination between some functions or operations at individual endpoint devices or the edge gateway nodes 1220, some others at the edge resource node 1240, and others in the core data center 1250 or global network cloud 1260.” and [0610], “Edge computing often involves physically locating modular computing pools, as positioned at the edge of a network. ... Edge computing installations are expanding to support a variety of use cases, such as smart cities, augmented or virtual reality, assisted or autonomous driving, factory automation, and threat detection, among others.” and [0309], “Image recognition services such as Vuforia and Catchoom have several AR apps using their service. This can only be expected to rise the in the future as more such AR apps are created and users of these AR apps increase. Since their services are currently hosted in the cloud, the latency and turnaround time of image recognition is pretty high. ... Therefore, moving the image recognition services from the cloud to the edge can improve the total turnaround time giving users seamless experience.” and [0312], “Third-party service providers (TSPs) may can monetize an AR service at the edge. The edge can host a central image recognition and object identification service which can be used by the AR apps. The AR apps specify the targets through an API and this service can respond with objects as desired when an input request is sent. The apps would pay for their service in the edge.” and [0559], “Each region may have a single orchestrator (e.g., 3411, 3421), rather than each edge location having its own orchestrator. Clusters may be created based on multiple factors, such as edge location locality (zoning) or edge cloud type (for example all street cabinets may be in one cluster while cell towers in another). Regional security policies can be supplied dynamically to a domain context where an acceptable multi-region policy can be determined for a domain context.”; Examiner’s note: Guim Bernat discloses in [0309] that augmented reality content services is often hosted in the cloud (or a static location) but also suggests in [0309] and [0312] that hosting AR content services at the edge (such as a mobile edge location) would help reduce latency and improve a user’s AR experience.)
38. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the computer-implemented method of claim 1 of Kahan in view of Yang, further in view of Oetting, further in view of Iyer, and further in view of Qiao to include the disclosure of a static edge computing device and mobile edge computing device that hosts an instance of a mixed reality (MR) content control system, of Guim Bernat. The motivation for this modification could have been to set up edge devices throughout a physical environment so that those devices can dynamically adapt to the demands of a mixed reality ecosystem. For instance, static edge devices could ensure that mixed reality services are supplied in a wide area, even if a local edge device is not nearby (providing a base level of coverage in an area). In addition, there could be mobile edge devices so that if there is more demand in a particular area, a mobile edge device could be deployed to help host mixed reality content. By doing so, this can help reduce latency of mixed reality applications as edge devices can service nearby MR users.
Conclusion
39. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
40. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW CLOTHIER whose telephone number is (571)272-4667. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:00pm.
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/MATTHEW CLOTHIER/Examiner, Art Unit 2614
/KENT W CHANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2614
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